by Daragh Ó Conchúir

Sligo manager Niall Carew has called for the introduction of a video referee to help on-pitch officials at inter-county level.

So strongly does Carew believe in the merit of the use of replays to reach correct decisions that he asked his club St Kevin's to propose a motion to that effect almost six years ago.

Having been passed at Kildare's annual convention, Carew claims that he received a phone call from a Central Council member saying that he should withdraw it before Congress, as it would be withdrawn due to incorrect wording.

The former Kildare selector has very personal reasons for believing that a television match official would prove beneficial, as key decisions in 2010 and 2011, subsequently proven to be incorrect by the TV footage, went against the Lilywhite team he was coaching.

He also draws on the Joe Sheridan 'goal' that denied Louth a rare Leinster title in 2010, while almost every game in the modern era throws up contentious decisions, not least Sunday'sAll-Ireland semi-final between Tipperary and Mayo.

A TMO would provide referees with invaluable help with demands greater now than ever before given the speed and intensity of both football and hurling.

"This is a no-brainer for the GAA, and I am always drawn back to what happened in the football championship in 2010" says Carew in the Sligo Champion.

"Louth should have won their first Leinster title in over 50 years and Kildare should have reached an All-Ireland final. Two goals were allowed that year that were clearly illegal and that would have been life-changing for the aforementioned counties. It happened to Kildare again when Tomás O'Connor had a goal disallowed in the All-Ireland quarter-final that quite clearly should have stood.

"So, what did we do? We brought in Hawk-Eye. Now look, it is a plus, but the video referee was the obvious thing to do. l felt cheated when Down beat us in 2010 and the same when Donegal beat us in extra time 12 months later.

"After what happened against Down, when Benny Coulter's goal stood despite him being well in the square, I was so incensed that I asked my club St Kevin's in Kildare if they might put a motion forward to Congress in relation to the introduction of a video referee.

"James O' Donnell, a great clubmate of mine, was tasked with putting all the ducks in a row. Bear in mind that James was the man who got the sideline ball to be taken from behind the sideline. So he knew about wording and proper channels and procedures to get this through to Congress.

"This motion got through Kildare and was brought forward to the next phase. I then received a call from a man on the Central Council asking if we could withdraw the motion because it would be rejected due to some issue with wording.

"The powers-that-be obviously didn't want it and to this day I'm kicking myself that I didn't push it on. I'm sure the big boys had their reasons and maybe Hawk- Eye was being developed at time but we will never know."

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